The Third Session of the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body, is to open at 3:00 p.m. in Beijing today.

The nation's top Party and state leaders and more than 2,000 of the Ninth CPPCC National Committee members are expected to attend the opening ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

The members will deliberate the agenda of the annual session this afternoon, listen to the work report of the Standing Committee of the Ninth CPPCC National Committee and a work report on proposal handling in the past year.

The members are also expected to deliberate a draft amendment to the CPPCC Constitution, which has been modified in line with the amendments to China's Constitution adopted at the Second Session of the Ninth National People's Congress last year.

A total of 1,379 domestic and overseas reporters have registered to cover the CPPCC session this year, which is to close on March 11.